Pick or fingers?

[Phalex]

Go with the one that makes you the most money.

 

[dj150888]

Go with the one that makes you the most money.

Or the one that brings you the most enjoyment, depending on your priorities in life.

 

[DwaynieAD]

i got kicked out of a deathmetal band because i played fingers, refusing to tremelo pick. i can play fingerstyle faster than the guitarist could pick.. but tremelo picking is one of the signature characteristics of deathmetal so no hard feelings there

I'm with Absenthia; sit back and groove, it sounds better anyway (in my opinion, which i hate that i have to point out). But make sure that it is what the band wants or you could find yourself without a slot, for an example of this see one paragraph above.

 

[Burlington]

I've always found that I can play faster with my fingers.

I set down the pic when I joined this metal band, it just couldn't keep up.

 

[ksandvik]

Some of the best bass player use pick. There is no answer to what is right and wrong. One can come with good examples for both and against pick or fingers!
One mentioned Jeff Berlin, which is amazing. But still on the "ABWH an evening of YES music" he fails to produce the sound and the drive of Chris Squire. His notes are there, yes but the spirit is not. His tone sound more like some keyboards compares to Chris's tone.

We were talking about speed, not sound.

 

[bassplayerbob]

Check out some of Billy Sheehan's vids. He uses 3 fingers to get speed. I own 2 of his instructional vids and that's a big part of his playing.

 

[ksandvik]

Check out some of Billy Sheehan's vids. He uses 3 fingers to get speed. I own 2 of his instructional vids and that's a big part of his playing.

Yep. And one of his main tricks is to use a pickup as the 'stabilizer' for the fingers to get the speed. Hard to explain but maybe there's a youtube video out there showing how it's done.

Then again Geddy Lee has a different style, using flamenco-like technique to get the speed for his runs.

 

[JonPol]

Personally, for that genre I prefer the pic tone. (Generally) Its got more drive, note-to-note consistency, is clearer and sits in the mix better. Although there's plenty of examples that support both sides.

If you're really up in the air on which to use, why not run through a song twice next practice, one with fingers and one with a pic, and see which one you and the rest of the band like more.

Hope this helps

 

[Awkwardturtle!]

DO what I do, don;t keep up with the guitars, sit back and groove it.
Play smart not fast.

+1 When I saw this I was like "ohhhh!" it makes complete sense
btw very inspiring comments guys

 

[plangentmusic]

I'm a 90% fingers player, but I think I can play 90% of what I do with a pick if necessary.

And pick technique adds another voice. Here's a bass riff composition that is a pick riff. It just wouldn't sound right with fingers.